HS girls lacrosse: Warriors stave off D-I Bedford

Jay Pinsonnault jpinsonnault@seacoastonline.com @JayPinceSMG

Tuesday

May 15, 2018 at 8:05 PMMay 15, 2018 at 11:55 PM

HAMPTON — Protecting a one-goal lead in the final two minutes, the Winnacunnet High School girls lacrosse team tried to run of the clock and pull off the upset in Tuesday’s clash with Division I Bedford.

Bedford’s Riley Chou intercepted a Winnacunnet pass with just over a minute and raced down the field and appeared to have momentum going toward the Warrior goal.

However, Bedford head coach Meghan Harris called a timeout with 52 seconds left in hopes of setting up the game-tying goal.

Bedford’s MacKenzie Mac, waiting for something to develop, calmly held the ball at the top of scoring circle as the seconds ticked off the clock.

Mac passed the ball to teammate Hannah McCarthy, but Winnacunnet’s Brooke McErlain and Mills Waddell pressured McCarthy, who lost control of the ball. McErlain scooped up the loose ball and ran out the final seconds as the Division II Warriors held on for a 11-10 win.

“We crashed in the middle with everybody which we talked about in the huddle (during the timeout),” Winnacunnet head coach Glenn McKenzie said. “We were going to go back into our normal defense, make sure we had our slides set up, not only the first slide, but the second slide as well. Our defense played exceptionally well today, (Bedford) is very good team. Those two (McErlain, Waddell) are anchors of our defense, but Melissa (Rooney) and Brenna (Bushe) also played great, we were really solid on the defensive end.”

Bedford entered the game on a 12-game win streak and had outscored the opposition, 188-79 since its season-opening 10-9 loss to Pinkerton.

“This is a big lift for us,” McKenzie said. “It shows that we can play against anybody. As we get ready and get closer to the playoffs I think our confidence will build. We have a few tough ones to go before we get to that point, but this really is a big win for us, the girls earned it.”

The Warriors stormed the field when the final buzzer sounded and mobbed senior goalie Hannah Driscoll.

“It’s always fun to play Bedford because they are a top team and it’s always a great game when you play them,” junior captain Ali McNamara said. “Bedford has amazing players and it’s always very competitive. It’s fun when we can play at our top level. It’s good to come in as underdog and get the win.”

It was the seventh straight win for Winnacunnet, which improved to 11-1 on the season. Winnacunnet’s previous 10 wins were by an average of 14 goals.

“We haven’t had that many competitive games,” McKenzie said. “ To get a real good game like this, and get a win, it gets everybody charged up.”

Keelyn McNamara led Winnacunnet with four goals, while Dana Sher had three, Ali McNamara two, and single goals by Sarah Taylor and Leah Orzechowski.

“It was a solid effort all the way around,” McKenzie said. “We were getting good looks out of our offense when we spread and the stack was coming through nicely; that opened up space for Ali, Keelyn and Dana.”

Bedford stormed out to a 4-1 lead, the fourth on Chou’s first of two goals and prompted McKenzie to call a timeout with just over 10 minutes left in the first half.

The Warriors answered as Sher scored on a free position shot with 9:53 left, cutting the Bedford lead to 4-2.

“That was a big goal for us scoring right off their fourth goal,” McKenzie said. “That was a lift for us. I think that was a turning point as we came right back. We knew we had plenty of time to get back into the game.”

Ali McNamara’s free position goal with 8:03 left brought Winnacunnet to within one, 4-3. However, Bedford answered as McKenzie Chou got control off the ensuing draw off McNamara’s goal and the Bulldogs led 5-3 with 7:50 left.

Again, the Warriors answered and answered often. Sher added two more goals and single tallies by both McNamara sisters gave Winnacunnet a 7-5 lead at halftime.

Goals by Keelyn McNamara and Orzechowski extended Winnacunnet’s lead to 9-6 with just over 13 minutes. Bedford cut the lead to one, 9-8 with 9:19 left on a pair of goals by Brooke Burdon.

Again both McNamara sisters found the back of the net and Winnacunnet led 11-8 with 7:25 left. The Bulldogs cut the lead to one on goals by Riley Chou (3:48 left) and McKenzie Chou (2:15 left).

Driscoll, in her first year playing lacrosse, finished the game with five saves in the Winnacunnet net.

“It seemed liked more than that,” McKenzie said. “She has played well; for someone who had never played before she has been remarkable.”

All four of Winnacunnet’s remaining four games in the regular season will be at home, starting with Thursday against Hollis-Brookline.

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